Month: April 2014

The “Lilly Ledbetter Act” was an act of Congress signed it into law on January 29, 2009, passed to combat gender-based wage discrimination. Four years later, Texas State Representative Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) introduced House Bill 950 to bring Texas law in line with the federal statute. Senfronia was dean of the Democrat minority and chairperson of the local and consent calendar committee.

The Texas House passed HB 950, a non-controversial bill and sent it to the Texas Senate. Senator Deuell, chairman of the Senate Economic Committee which held jurisdiction over this bill, persuaded committee members to suspend the rules, but only after two changes were incorporated:

No retroactive claims after the effective date of the bill

No claims based on pension payments

Dr. Deuell insisted on the above two amendments over the objections of Senator Wendy Davis, the bill’s sponsor in the Senate.

It is customary to allow non-controversial bills to come up for a vote on the floor of the Senate.

The Texas Association of Business, along with other business groups, urged Gov. Rick Perry to veto the bill, because it would be obtrusive to free enterprise. The governor vetoed and there it died.

Sen. Bob Deuell tried to weaken otherwise very liberal legislation that had to pass in order for the legislative process to work. And he’s not afraid to stand up to Democrats to do it. This is an example of savvy leadership. Bob Hall, on the other hand, seems to want to promote the Davis agenda and support anti-free enterprise legislation as long as it has ‘conservative’ fixes in it.

Personal Observations

My Facebook posting (TEA Party Rockwall of April 15) was motivated by another ignorant rant from candidate Bob Hall who whined about the disclosure of embarrassing personal facts exposed by news media.

Through two election cycles, I have listened to and talked with Dr. Bob Deuell and Mr. Bob Hall. Their political forum presentations differ substantially. Dr. Deuell speaks to issues, while Bob Hall attacks the character of Dr. Deuell. I recorded the full audio of the two candidates two years ago, links below for your convenience.

“[Bob Hall] offers the standard tea party positions on smaller government but moves scarcely beyond the talking points. Ideology is one thing, but it’s quite another to convince others. This is where Hall falls short.”

Summary

My opinion of Dr. Bob Deuell is very much in line with others with whom he has had personal encounters. A woman, a patient of Dr. Deuell, made the following (unedited) comment on my Facebook posting (TEA Party Rockwall of April 15).

Marie Crowe-Isham Bob Deuell saved my life and my daughter’s..he delivered her and took care of me…so anyone that says something that wrong like “Dr. Death” has not had a great physician like Bob Deuell. Bob Hall can kiss my shiny hiney!!!! GO BOB DEUELL!!!!!!!

I will vote for Bob Deuell for Texas Senate, SD-2. Election Day is May 27 and your vote counts.

Stand up in the presence of a person with gray hair, show respect for the old; you are to fear your God; I am Adonai.– Leviticus 19:32 CJB

Life moved on. There was the primary election, a contest between five contenders: Ralph Hall, John Ratcliffe, Lou Gigliotti, John Stacy and Tony Arterburn. Results of ballots cast left two contenders heading into a runoff: Hall and Ratcliffe. Subsequent to that first go-round, those other three contenders independently decided to throw their support behind Congressman Ralph Hall. I communicated with each of them and their separate reasoning was as one man – Ralph Hall is the right man for the job.

I ask, again. Is age an issue?

Moshe [Moses] was 120 years old when he died, with eyes undimmed and vigor undiminished. – Deuteronomy 34:7 CJB

Doing the math: 120 – 90 = 30 years difference in age and God didn’t consider Moses “too old” for the job until he was 30 years Ralph’s senior. FYI – In my family, I am 28 years senior to Rockwall’s Mayor Pro Tem and I most certainly don’t think I am “too old”.

John Ratcliffe, like a cornered cat, bares his claws today

In today’s mail I receive a flyer “paid for by now or never PAC”. Interesting. What is the implication of “now or never”? Does John Ratcliffe presume Ralph will forever be our Congressman, except he defeat him? The phrasing is interesting.

Well, the disclaimer carries the obligatory “not authorized by any candidate…” statement at the bottom. If you can believe this costly mailer – it’s 8.5″ X 11″, printed two sides and 7 colors – was produced without Mr. Ratcliffe’s knowledge, you can believe just about anything. For those who have never paid for such materials, it’s helpful to know this was very, very costly. And, you can be quite certain it was prepared with the advice and consent of candidate John Ratcliffe.

John Ratcliffe’s Mailer NOT Sent By John Ratcliffe

Obviously, Mr. Ratcliffe changed his mind. Instead of his earlier declaration in which he publicly stated he would leave Ralph’s age up to the voters to decide whether or not Congressman Ralph M. Hall’s age automatically disqualifies him for the office.

We know what John Ratcliffe is now saying. What are his former opponents and Ralph’s fellow veterans, people like me, saying about this man who fought for our nation against the Empire of Japan in WW2 as a carrier-based fighter pilot?

“Pay everyone what he is owed: if you owe the tax-collector, pay your taxes; if you owe the revenue-collector, pay revenue; if you owe someone respect, pay him respect; if you owe someone honor, pay him honor.” – Romans 13:7 CJB

Recently, we veterans gathered round Ralph at the ’66 Diner for breakfast. A couple are lawyers like John. One is a corporate magnate here in Rockwall. Others hold elected offices and some, like me, are small business owners. Ours is a diverse group of veterans. But our opinion about this great man, one of The Greatest Generation, a man who knows each of us by first and last name, along with the names of most of our family members, is he does a wonderful job of representing us before the House of Representatives. At one time or another, each and every one of us has been to Washington to see Ralph doing what he does best. Why do we veterans want our fellow veteran back in Congress?

This sitting president whose name I shall not mention, has been systematically dismantling our vital Department of Defense. Now, more veterans die of suicide than frontline combat. Our collective military experiences qualify us to judge this man, Congressman Ralph Hall, to be a fit representative of our active-duty, reserve and former military personnel. Year by year, there are fewer and fewer veterans in Congress. Presently military veterans are slightly less than 20% of all members of Congress.

Summary

Personal to John Ratcliffe: We veterans, community and party leaders and three former opponents of Ralph agree,

Ralph Hall is getting the job done. Times haven’t changed, but allegiances most certainly have. An ambitious man wants Ralph’s job. Ambition is a tricky thing. It has a way of robbing a man of his character.

Our state legislators meet for 140 days every two years. It’s an intense time when lawmakers address tens of thousands of issues vital to various sectors of our population. Dr. Deuell manages to communicate directly with constituents while also managing to address thousands of issues.

As you would hear in Mr. Hall’s statement via the above link, (starting at minute 5:56) he says, “I have been labeled as a three-issue candidate. I’d like to correct that. That’s an overstatement. First, no one has all the answers to everything. But, I am a one-issue candidate.”Legislators introduce thousands (that’s times ten to the third power, Mr. Hall) of bills during regular 140-day sessions and they can introduce hundreds more during special sessions. The end product is not the work of any one person. As I often say, it’s not what I want; it’s what we can do together.

Good manners and respect for fellow lawmakers, even political opponents,makes for good order in the Texas Senate. Bob Hall clearly states he will not respect his fellow senators, if elected.

The Texas House and Senate address a broad array of issues encompassing health, welfare, transportation, education, gun laws, environmental and water, the ‘600 pound gorilla in the room’.The 83rd Legislature passed,nine proposed constitutional amendments, to be decided by Texas voters. Chief among those issues was water. Most of the people living in Texas understand the dire nature of drought and water resources to supply a rapidly growing state population.We, the registered voters of the Great State of Texas voted for Proposition 6 to facilitate and expedite development of water resources.This amendment was not a grant, but a pool from which water districts like our NTMWD can borrow funds at low interest, thereby maintaining a business-friendly climate that draws new industry from other states.Mr. Hall opposed that proposition to alleviate statewide water shortages. He presumes himself better able to decide what we need than we the people of Texas are. There is a name for that kind of person: autocrat.

Dr. Deuell voted to empower us, the taxpayers, to make those important decisions.Bob Hall has ignorantly ranted against using the Rainy Day Fund for just about anything. If dire drought is not cause to use Rainy Day funds, what is, Mr. Hall?Personal to Mr. Hall: This fund was established in 1988 to address off-budget expenses that arise between biennial legislative sessions. You see, Mr. Hall, it’s called by some “common sense”, by others “a prudent measure” and in real businesses we call it reserve capital, as I do in my own business. You seem unaware of the dire nature of this drought that rapidly dries up Texas reservoirs.

The collective wisdom of We the People of Texas will forever be superior to one autocratic lawmaker.Our Rainy Day Fund is at present 18% of the state budget, well above the calculated “safety zone”. Out of the 83rd Legislature, this fund was at$8.1 billion, one billion over what the governor requested.Mr. “One Issue” Bob Hall, by his own admission, lacks capacity to deal with a myriad of concurrent issues.Dr. Bob Deuell consistently demonstrates wisdom and leadership in Austin, while maintaining an active medical practice in Greenville.I invite voters to make the intelligent choice for Senate District 2. Vote for Bob Deuell.

Requiem for the Democrat Party

There are those Americans, of whom I am one, that recognize a sinister plan at work through the actions of this sitting president. Before taking office, he openly declared his goal of “fundamentally transforming the United States of America”. His statement begs the question: “Transformation from what to what, Mr. President?”

Today, Easter Sunday 2014, I look back over my shoulder a backward glance, as Paul Harvey used to say. I see a ‘debris field’ of broken promises, politicization of government agencies, and corruption at the highest levels of government right into the Oval Office of the president of the United States of America.

Yes, our president of dubious birthright, born to communists, mentored to communists and surrounded by communists is leaving his mark. Among his ‘accomplishments’, the destruction of the finest medical care systems in the history of the world.

There is one thing he destroys, one knife cut at a time, which portends a total collapse of our republic: destruction of the Democrat Party.

At this point, you may suspect me of departing from fellowship with our founding fathers. I do no such thing.

Some founding fathers feared political parties. George Washington denounced political partisanship a threat to the republic. Consider the words of John Adams, who said,

“There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.”

It’s noteworthy that Adams who eschewed partisanship became the de-facto head of his political party, the Federalists.

Political parties are natural. It’s helpful to know God’s perspective on the nature of His creation. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The only sensible conclusion is simply this: there are no perfect earthly rulers. Period. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Thus, because men are naturally rebellious and refuse to submit directly to the Living God, there must of necessity be a means of checks and balances between competing ideas.

Federalists and Anti-federalists provided this essential competition of ideas at the beginning of our Constitutional Republic and over the years the two parties have come to be known as Democrats and Republicans.

So long as we have this healthy tension within our two-party system, we the People have the final say on all matters. Let’s consider what can happen, when one party disappears.

Our third president and de-facto head of the Anti-federalists, Thomas Jefferson, said,

“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”

So it is, here we are in 2014 with an elected president who has fundamentally transformed our beloved nation “by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny”. To wit:

BLM tyranny in Nevada where heavily armed BLM agents threaten the lives of taxpaying citizens, loyal Americans. We learn how Sen. Harry Reid is using this agency for political purposes.

IRS tyranny across the nation, as disclosures day by day reveal how this sitting president has perverted the Treasury Department into a political operative used to suppress dissent.

EPS tyranny manifests as “land grabs”, confiscation of water rights, and overreaching authority in all manner of human activities, even to the point of redefining the border of a state.

Dramatic changes to census methods will obfuscate corruption perpetrated by this sitting president.

Summary

I foresee destruction of the Democrat Party. Make no mistake: I am a solid conservative Republican. But, I understand why we must have a vibrant two-party system to serve to minimize government tyranny. Voters must think for themselves. Informed decisions sustain the republic. But, we ever so swiftly become “score-card values voters”, mindlessly accepting one person’s evaluation of candidates without actually becoming personally informed to the facts.

“It is important that the United States remain a two-party system. I’m a fellow who likes small parties and the Republican Party can’t be too small to suit me.”Hypocrisy of Lyndon B. Johnson

Tyrants like Lyndon B. Johnson would be delighted to see the Republican Party dissolve into vapor. He said as much. As a Republican, I do not want the Democrat Party to vaporize.

I know for a fact Democrats read my blogs and Facebook postings. I urge you Democrats to rescue your party by joining with current conservative Republicans to overturn this president’s dictatorial rule whereby he has trampled the rule of law. As Benjamin Franklin wisely said, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

Borrowing and slightly modifying a typing exercise, now is the time for all good [Democrats] to come to the aid of their [party]. We must have healthy tension provided by two parties to prevent a slide into the abyss of totalitarian government.

As the above PBS documentary states, Lee was a man at war with his country and with himself – loyal to fellow Virginians, opponent of slavery[PBS website link]What happened to public education in America? Has political correctness wholly replaced knowledge and common sense altogether?

Consider what a pack of “multi-racial protesters” demand of Washington & Lee University. Read about their demands: http://ow.ly/vWI6F

Headline: Students Demand Acknowledgement of Robert E. Lee’s ‘Racist and Dishonorable Conduct’

A faculty member says, “We take these students concerns seriously.” Seriously delusional, I would say.

Before and throughout the Civil War, Robert E. Lee opposed slavery. He was an abolitionist. When war broke out, President Lincoln invited Robert E. Lee to head the Union Army. Lee declined, because, although he strongly opposed slavery, he was intensely loyal to the people of the state of Virginia.

Political correctness is a tool crafted in the minds of Marx, Engels, Antonio Gramsci and Georg Lukacs. The term came to us in the 1980’s. Political correctness is tyranny, defined by one dictionary as “arbitrary, unreasonable, or despotic behaviour or use of authority”. Political correctness opposes at least two of the five freedoms heralded in the First Amendment.

Political correctness forced Six Flags Over Texas to replace the CSA flag. Original flags represented six sovereign governments that ruled Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederate States of America (CSA) and the United States of America. When the amusement park first opened, it was, in effect, a Texas history lesson. PC racists, ignorant racists, loudly protested the flag in favor of its removal. The flag is gone. Should we also deny there was ever slavery in Texas? No. There was slave labor in Texas and the CSA flag stands as a memorial to that terrible fact. But, the PC folks effectively steal our history.

‪#‎BundyRanchStandoff‬ ended due to two factors: (1) We the People exercised our First and Second Amendments, and (2) the Posse Comitatus Act was at play when Sheriff Doug Gillespie ordered BLM off the Bundy land.

The Posse Comitatus Act was passed on June 18, 1878 after the end of Reconstruction. “Its intent (in concert with the Insurrection Act of 1807) was to limit the powers of Federal government in using federal military personnel to enforce the state laws.”

Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

10 U.S.C.§ 375. Restriction on direct participation by military personnel

The Secretary of Defenseshall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to ensure that any activity (including the provision of any equipment or facility or the assignment or detail of any personnel) under this chapter does not include or permit direct participation by a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps in a search, seizure, arrest, or other similar activity unless participation in such activity by such member is otherwise authorized by law.

Your sheriff is your first line of defense against federal tyranny. Talk with your sheriff to learn how he or she would respond, if federal agencies were running roughshod over his or her constituents.

You and your neighbors are your second line of defense against tyranny.

It’s important to keep in mind that a failure of your sheriff to defend you against tyranny is a sure indication he or she is representing federal government in lieu of his or her constitutional duty. The cure: Elect a sheriff who will keep his/ oath to uphold the Constitution.

Back up plan, in the event of an ineffective sheriff, is our individual right to keep and bear arms.

You have a gun. Do you know how to use it in the defense of others? “Others?” you ask. Yes, our Texas Constitution assigns duty to protect the state and your neighbor, the person(s) close to you.

THE TEXAS CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE 1. BILL OF RIGHTS, Sec. 23. RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS:

“Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defense of himself or the State; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime.”

Having authority and not using it is no better than having no authority at all.

Bitcoin is not in any sense a “virtual currency”, regardless how it is labeled. It is as much a financial transaction as are the use of credit cards, but it cannot be legally considered nor treated as lawful currency. Here’s why.

As per the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 5, Congress has authority “To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures”.

Bitcoin value is a function of supply and demand, just like gold, wheat, gasoline and oil. Therefore, bitcoin is a commodity that is freely traded over the internet between willing buyers and sellers and not the property of any one government, except the natural government of a free market. If you wish to legally define it, for one reason or another, I suggest calling it “private property”.

Whereas, bitcoin is a commodity and whereas Congress does not and cannot “regulate the Value thereof”, your proposed bill can only be considered meaningless.

As a TEA Party organizer in my part of Texas and as an active Republican who is a delegate to the Texas GOP Convention, I encourage you to withdraw your proposed “Virtual Currency Tax Reform Act” to avoid embarrassment. Your work to preserve traditional values is greatly appreciated and I read everything you publish on Facebook.

Oath Keepers – Guardians of the Republic
Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, veterans, Peace Officers, and Fire Fighters who will fulfill the Oath we swore, with the support of like minded citizens who take an Oath to stand with us,